Of Great Halls and Mysteries
by ladybirden
Summary: Hogwarts AU in which Rosalind is having trouble dealing with a certain Gryffindor chaser (who may or may not go by the name of Tommy Geiger), Skye teams up with an unlikely ally to solve a mystery plaguing the school's halls, and Jane struggles to adapt to the magical world she's always dreamt of. Only one thing is for certain, the year won't be one they will soon forget.
1. Leaving

If one house on Gardam Street _had_ to be chosen as a building which was home to witches and wizards, it would have to be the Penderwicks'. The structure itself wasn't very peculiar. The old house was large and comfy, painted a pale olive-green color and finished with sweet white shutters and a swing set in the front lawn. The grass in their yard was wild but not overgrown, and one could find clovers and dandelions there aplenty. By the front door was a wide arrangement of flowers-from a dripping silver moonlight white rose to a golden yellow daffodil that shone like the sun. No, the house was nothing out of the ordinary. And the pets weren't either-although the great black dog sometimes did make a ruckus and one neighbor swore they saw an owl flying out of a window once.

It was the people, really, that did it. First was Mr. Penderwick. Despite the fact he was a professor of botany at the nearby university, he seemed unable to form a coherent thought before moving on to something unintelligible. Half the time he acted like he was some sort of sleepwalker who had opened his eyes-his words made about as much sense. Once, while Mrs. Finch was passing the house to go to the summer farmers' market, she heard him muttering belligerently from behind a newspaper about some "purebloods" and "muggles" and how the whole business needed to be sorted out by "the Ministry" "immediately". Mrs. Finch said that maybe the heat of the day had made her a bit delirious though, after all, she also said she saw one of the pictures on the newspaper move.  
Even if you didn't count Mr. Penderwick, there was still something odd about the family. The wife had died five years earlier from some freak illness. None of the neighbors knew what it was or how it happened. All they knew was that a few weeks earlier the pregnant woman had been escorted out of the house and into a van-and then one Sunday morning the newest child was born and she was gone forever. Despite the strangeness of it all, they kept their questions to themselves. Mr. Penderwick was visibly distraught and the whole neighborhood came together for the family, offering enough homemade casseroles and flower bouquets and handwritten notes to fill a cruise ship. But they received no explanation.

Rosalind Penderwick, the oldest child of the family at thirteen, was also the most normal. Neighbors referred to her as "the respectable one," and for good reason. She was always seen helping her three younger sisters-whether it was by kissing their scrapes when they fell or lecturing them when they did something a little less savory. A lot of neighbors thought that maybe she had grown up too fast considering the circumstances-taking up a mother's role in the family. But she was always polite, well-mannered, and with good intentions, so most simply tried to reduce her workload whenever it was possible and shoot her sympathetic looks every now and again.  
After Rosalind was Skye Penderwick, and at twelve, she was quite the opposite of her older sister. Not just in looks, although her golden locks and laser blue eyes sure did stand out against the rest of her family's sea of brown-in personality as well. She was always _doing_ something. Sometimes it was something dangerous, like climbing up the tallest tree in the neighborhood at age seven, and other times it was just plain weird. Once, Lily Tamer said she found Skye waving some sticks around in the air with fire coming out the ends of them. Whenever Skye's name was mentioned in conversation, it was always followed by a "you know, the troublemaker".  
Following Skye was Jane, who had just recently turned eleven. Jane was a sweet girl, but she took after her father in her wild talk. She was always with a notebook and rambling about magical beasts and poisons and romances. She would strike up a conversation with anyone who showed the slightest bit of interest on a variety of topics-ranging from Animagi (according to her, people who could turn into animals at will) to Divination (a way to tell the future). She sure did have her head up in the clouds, but she was considered harmless by the community.  
The last Penderwick was Batty, that strange baby who had been delivered on her mother's deathbed five years earlier. She was young and yet she already seemed to have inherited her family's penchant for oddity. She was always with the family dog-they called him Hound, a normal enough name-and seemed to think he could talk to her. She also was never seen without tacky plastic butterfly wings on her back and whenever someone so much as looked at her, she hid behind whatever big object was nearest.

She was an odd one, yes, but still, not odd enough to warrant investigation or concern. And that was true with the whole family-they were peculiar, but mostly the neighborhood ignored them. After all, once the kids turned eleven they were sent to a boarding school in Ireland for the year, so it wasn't like they were around often enough to really bother anyone anyways. In all, the neighbors found them delightfully quirky and eccentric and pushed their more _strange_ moments to the back of their minds.

* * *

"Jane, have you packed all your things?" Rosalind called as she poked her head into the bedroom shared by her two younger sisters. There was quite a split down the middle.

On Skye's side, it almost looked like a new sheet of notebook paper ripped from its rings-it was neat and almost perfectly white, with crisp straight lines and order upheld. The only bits of decoration were Skye's Holyhead Harpies poster and her pegboard with notes on Arithmancy and charts of the night sky. The almost second year rolled her eyes at Rosy from her seat at the end of the bed, her hands easily swinging her wand back and forth between her fingertips-it was a habit of hers when she was bored.

On Jane's side of the room, it was chaos. The walls had been painted lavender at her request, but they were barely visible-covered by the thousands of paintings and doodles and ripped out newspaper articles she had collected over the years. The floor had become a trash pile. It was littered with self-brushing hairbrushes that had lost their charms and Chocolate Frog wrappers that were kicked under the dresser in an unsuccessful attempt to hide them. And oh, that dresser. It was a neat freaks' nightmare; filled to the brim with old toys that Jane couldn't bear to throw away. The stockpile had a wide variety, ranging from the Faery Princess Dolls that couldn't fly anymore but still at weird moments burst into song to the miniature dragon figurines that sneezed fire when the dust around them grew too thick.

"Oh Rosy, thank Merlin you're here!" Jane cried. "I just _can't_ choose which 'Sabrina Starr: The Teenage Witch' books to bring! I mean, I wrote them with my own two hands-to choose one over the other would be a betrayal to my soul, to my blood! How am I supposed to pick? And not to mention the fact that I _need_ to bring my old favorite stories-Lizzie & the Chimera is a classic! Oh Rosy, won't you help me?"

Jane reached out to give her sister a dramatically loving hug, but her arm missed and swung into a draped silver cage.

"Oh!" Jane perked up. "I almost forgot that I have to bring Aristotle as well!"

She rushed to tear off the covering. Rosalind and Mr. Penderwick had bought her an owl while they were shopping for school supplies in Diagon Alley. They had decided to name him after a muggle philosopher because of the old superstition that owls were wise, and the name seemed to fit. The plain brown bird inside the cage gave Jane a condescending look like he was too intelligent to deal with her problems and began instead to preen his feathers.

"Isn't he handsome?" asked Jane. "I know Daddy said we shouldn't let him out until we're at Hogwarts because we don't want to raise suspicion, but I couldn't help myself. A few nights ago, I set him free for a little kip. I mean, its _torture_ to keep him locked up like this! Anyway, he and I are going to be best friends when we get to school."

"Truthfully, he looks like he doesn't give a **hoot** about you," Skye said.

"Did you really just make a pun?" Rosalind said. A smile tugged at her lips.

" **Who** , me?" Skye said, and promptly burst out laughing.

"I guess the old saying is true, don't count your chickens before they hatch. I mean look at this egg," Jane said, gesturing to Skye, "she's **quacked** already!"

The two dissolved into giggles and continued with their pun game ("Time really **flies** when you're having fun, doesn't it?") as Rosalind dutifully organized Jane's trolley of school supplies.

"I guess it's true what they say," Rosalind said as she ran her fingers down a book spine, "birds of a feather really do flock together."

* * *

An hour later and the party arrived at Kings' Cross Station. Rosalind was getting back into the feel of things a little. Whenever they crossed over onto Platform 9 ¾ she always felt briefly out of the loop-the Wizarding World had continued to develop without her in it over the summer (Mr. Penderwick rarely got the Daily Prophet or listened to Wizarding Radio-they were almost like muggles over those few months). She saw now that some new things were in style-she spotted tiny charms wrapped delicately around people's wands and lipsticks that changed color every thirty seconds or so. She would have to ask Anna about everything when they got on the Hogwarts Express.

"Ey, Rosy!" a brash voice called over the din, and Rosalind looked up to see the face of Tommy Geiger, the Gryffindor boy she had helped study Transfiguration last year.

She felt her cheeks warm and against her will she broke into a smile. What was wrong with her? She gave herself a small slap to get back to her senses. Tommy was her friend, she had to stop acting like someone with some school girl crush.

"We've saved a spot for you!" Anna called through the train compartment window.

"That is-if your Ravenclaw genius can stand to be with us Gryffindor jocks!" Tommy teased and she laughed.

"I'm coming!" Rosalind said, and turned to find her family to say goodbye.

Instead, she came upon Skye and Jane in a tense discussion.

"Jane, trust me, you want to be in Gryffindor. Ravenclaw is for the weirdos-excluding Rosalind, of course. The Gryffindors are where it's at. We have enough adventures for _five_ Sabrina book series. And don't get me started on the Hufflepuffs. Anyone who's in Hufflepuff is either a leftover or just the type of sappy do-gooder innocent that I hate. I'm not even going to mention the Slytherins. I mean, they're ambitious, yes, but they lie and cheat to get what they want. I'd rather be a lowly Gryffindor than a successful Slytherin. We're honorable."

"This pep talk _definitely_ isn't biased," Jane said.

"Of course not!" Skye said, mock offended.

In truth, she was literally decked out in Gryffindor colors-all burgundy red and gold. When she had come as a naïve first year last year, she had wanted desperately to be in Ravenclaw. Not just to be with Rosalind, but also because she wanted to prove to people that she was smart-so many people assumed that she could barely whip a word out because of her looks. Yes, she was a traditional beauty-all blue eyes and blonde hair, but she wanted to be taken seriously.  
Now, as a second year, she was glad the Sorting Hat had chosen her to be in Gryffindor. She couldn't have survived being in Ravenclaw. Despite its reputation for being "the smart house", its main goal was to encourage people to try new things, broaden people's perspectives-not to show off their smarts or knowledge. Skye didn't think she could last a week of all that. Besides, she heard a rumor that they had to answer riddles to get into their common rooms-Skye couldn't imagine how frustrating that would be. Imagine if you were late to class and you needed to grab something from your dormitory room! Rosalind was much better suited-she loved learning about other people's passions and enjoyed solving riddles and logic problems (probably because she had gotten used to dealing with her sisters' issues over the years).

"Don't mess with her head," Rosalind said, cutting through Skye's thoughts, "whatever house you get into will be fine."

"Thanks, Rosy," said Jane.

"I'm gonna miss you, Rosy!" said Batty, coming up from behind the sisters.

"And I, as well," said Mr. Penderwick, gazing fondly at his girls and readjusting his glasses. "Batty and I will have to manage without you three."

"Oh! Daddy!" said Jane and threw her arms around him in a hug. Skye and Rosalind and Batty found themselves pulled into it as well, and there they stayed, in a throng of warm skin and tight grasps and unsaid goodbyes. When they finally separated, Skye went over to talk to Batty while the others talked.

"I'm gonna miss you, squirt," said Skye, crouching down to get on her younger sister's level.

"Are you sad?" asked Batty.

"No, of course not, why?" said Skye.

"Because it's raining from your eyes," said Batty matter-of-factly.

Skye touched her face and marveled at the fact that, yes, she was, in fact, crying. She never cried.

"It's just sweat," she said, wiping it away.

"Don't worry Skye, I'll sweat for you too," said Batty.

"I'll send you a picture of one of the animals in my Care for Magical Creatures class," Skye said, "and I'll see you on Christmas break."

"Already talking about presents?" Mr. Penderwick asked, coming on to the group.

"No," said Skye resolutely, but maybe she _had_ been thinking of that new broomstick that she had heard could out fly a Hungarian Horntail.

"Of course not," he chuckled, "Rosy says the express is leaving soon, so you guys best get going quick."

"Goodbye, Skye!" said Batty.

"Goodbye!" Skye said.

And she and Rosalind and Jane raced onboard the Hogwarts Express as the steam started to blow and the wheels started to clack and the train started to move.

And there Batty and Mr. Penderwick stood, waving dutifully on Platform 9 ¾ .

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hello everybody who's come upon this story! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'd love to get feedback on it-so please, comment any questions or critiques you may have! I plan on updating about a chapter every week, although I can't promise that they all will be as long as this one is. And yes, there will eventually by some Skyffery, don't worry hahaha** **. I got the Hogwarts Houses by taking the Sorting Hat Quiz on Pottermore acting like the characters. I hope you find them accurate! Here's a little list of the characteristics so far:**

 **Rosalind Penderwick-  
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw  
Ilvermorny House: Horned Serpent  
Wand: Laurel wood with a unicorn hair core, 13 ¾" and quite bendy flexibility  
Patronus: Dolphin**

 **Skye Penderwick-  
Hogwarts House: Gryffindor  
Ilvermorny House: Pukwudgie  
Wand: Alder wood with a unicorn hair core, 10" and unyielding flexibility  
Patronus: Polecat**

 **Jane Penderwick-  
Wand: Cypress wood with a phoenix feather core, 10 ¾" and surprisingly swishy flexibility**

 **Next chapter you will meet Jeffery, and Jane will get Sorted. Comment what house you think Jeffery will get!**

 **-ladybirden**

 **P.S. sorry about all the puns, I just couldn't help myself!**


	2. Sorting and Skye's Bad Luck

Jane had always dreamed of this moment-her entering the Great Hall for the first time. When Professor O'Connell put her hands on the handles of the large oak doors in front of the first years, Jane almost quivered in anticipation. Her heart beat loud in her ears and her cheeks grew pink in excitement. Oh, what wonders she was about to see! Professor O'Connell drew back a strand of her wildly curly chocolate brown hair before giving the first years a knowing look and opening the double set of doors.

Immediately there was an explosion of noise. People were laughing and chanting and clapping and whistling. Jane couldn't have cared less about the sound though, she was too busy trying to drink it all in with her eyes. The ceiling was an eyeglass to the heavens, glittering with silver stars set against the backdrop of a deep, navy hue. The four long tables of the Houses stretched out in front of her-each as long as the school buses Jane used to ride when she had to go to muggle school. The oak gleamed in the light that was cast by the candles above. Oh, those floating candles! Tiny flames bursted from their milky white wicks. Jane decided that she loved it. Loved every little piece of it. Hogwarts had stolen her heart.

Without even realizing it, she had been walking. And now she found herself lined up with all the other first years and was reminded of what was to come. The Sorting.

"I'm nervous, aren't you?" whispered the girl Jane had met on the train, named Emily.

"Very," Jane whispered back.

No matter what Rosalind said, the house you were sorted in was a big deal. Jane tried scoping out the tables-figuring out which place might suit her best.

Her eyes first landed on Slytherin, and she realized now why Skye had so adamantly been against them. They looked to be a shady group. Most of the boys had shifty eyes, like they had been put as the lookout person for a crime too many times and had lost control of their eyeballs. The girls looked bored and disinterested, content to gossip between themselves. There were some exceptions of course-a group of friends cheerily making funny faces-but altogether, Jane didn't think it would be the right house for her.  
She moved over to Hufflepuff, and immediately saw why Skye hated everybody there. They were just so-so _friendly_. They looked like they fit together, like a family. There was caring there-a sweet earnestness that reminded Jane of the times she was sick and the whole family rallied around her, determined to cheer her up. Maybe it wasn't to Skye's taste, but Jane thought it wouldn't be so bad to be put into Hufflepuff.  
Next her eyes drifted to Ravenclaw, where she found Rosalind listening closely to the words of an excited boy in front of her who looked like he was making a speech. It seemed like everybody at the table was either creating something or being shared something someone had created. There was a girl writing steadily in her notebook, her quill flashing like neon lights from fast food restaurants. A kindred writing soul! There was also a boy working on his watercolor painting, and a student testing out a new mechanical contraption. Jane felt her heart swell. _These_ were her people-the dreamers! Skye might have called them weirdos, but Jane found them inspiring.  
Skye. Where was her older sister, anyways? There she was, surrounded by red and gold at the Gryffindor table. Jane could see why Skye liked it there. There people had fun, but were also honest with themselves and their work. They were good people; straightforward and brave, but Jane didn't feel the same connection with them that she felt with the Ravenclaw students. She would let Skye have Gryffindor.

"Hey, the Sorting's starting," said Emily, jolting Jane out of her thoughts.

"Oh!" Jane said. "What did I miss?"

"The Sorting Hat sang some song describing each of the houses," said Emily.

"Oh," Jane said, "well, that's not too bad."

"We will now begin the Sorting, starting in alphabetical order," called Professor O'Connell.

"Axelrod, Aaron!"

A small boy with caramel colored skin and a mop of black hair scurried up to the seat. The moment the wrinkled and worn hat touched the crown of his head, a booming voice shouted,

"SLYTHERIN!"

The table of green and silver burst with cheers and hoots. The boy slid in next to an older boy who had beckoned him over. He looked a little apprehensive, but seemed to relax after a moment.

"Andres, Samira!"

A black girl with a row of braids and a bright smile came up to be judged. Her hands trembled as she passed the hat over her ears-the only sign of nervousness she dared to show.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Jane watched as Skye welcomed the newcomer to her table. As time passed, Jane started to zone out. She couldn't pay attention to every _single_ student that came up to be Sorted, especially when she herself was trying to calm her own anxiety of the event. What if she was put into Slytherin? What if the Sorting Hat didn't choose her for _any_ of the houses? What if it made a mistake and she was put into a house that didn't fit her for seven years? Calm down, Jane, she told herself. They wouldn't let it decide the fates of their students if it made mistakes. All she hoped was that she was one of those people who was decided quickly-she didn't think she could _stand_ having her mind pored over for more than a few seconds. She wanted her house to be definite and immediate, not hard to decide.

"Pelle, Emily!"

The blond girl she had befriended on the train was up next, which meant that Jane's own judgement by the Sorting Hat was arriving shortly.

Jane whispered, "Good luck!"

Emily scampered forward, her ponytail beating on her back to the rhythm of her footsteps. When she arrived at the chair, she took her seat gingerly. Slowly, she lifted the Sorting Hat over her head-its great size engulfing her and covering her eyes. A few seconds passed with nothing happening. Then the hat boomed in its familiar loud voice,

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Emily's whole face seemed to melt in relief as she went to join her tablemates, who were all patting her on the back and cheerily laughing.

Jane took a deep breath. It seemed to take ages before Professor O'Connell called,

"Penderwick, Jane!"

Jane couldn't even remember walking up to the stool, she was so out of it. All she knew was that she was suddenly there, and that she was lifting the hat onto her head.

"My, my, my, what do we have here?" The hat's voice whispered through her mind. "Hmmm…there's ambition here, wanting to become a famous author, but is that enough for Slytherin? And then we have this kindness, this work ethic which would do well in Hufflepuff. For Gryffindor, there is a thirst for adventure, bravery, and honor. But no, I think I know what house fits you best. You have that sort of spark, that imagination. Yes, _you'd_ be best in…RAVENCLAW!"

This last word was yelled out in the Great Hall, and Jane took a deep breath, glad that her turn was over. She joined Rosalind at the table, who beamed at her and hugged her tightly.

Across the way, she met eyes with Skye, who mouthed the word 'Traitor' at her, her eyes sparkling with amusement. Jane laughed, and just felt it was good to be home.

* * *

"Hello, I am Professor Alfreda Mofett, your Potions professor this year. I know that most of you had Professor Harbon for Potions last year. He has retired from teaching, and I am his replacement. I expect to be given the same respect that you gave him. This class is a double period, meaning that Hufflepuff second years and Gryffindor second years will take this class together. We will meet every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during third period-except for Monday when will we meet in first period. Before we continue with the lesson, I have been notified that we have a new student joining us from America. Please welcome Jeffery Tifton to Hogwarts. Please help him adjust to the change and do our school proud," said Professor Mofett. The short and stout woman with a blunt bob of red hair and pale skin littered with freckles made a wave with her arm, motioning for the new student to stand up.

Skye rolled her eyes from her seat at the back of the classroom. She couldn't believe her luck. Not only did she have to suffer through a class the whole year with the _Hufflepuffs-_ but she also had to be on her best behavior because there was a new student and Professor Mofett would be watching extra closely.

Skye knew that maybe she seemed a little unreasonable for hating on the house with the badger mascot. It wasn't like Hufflepuffs were the worst people in the world, after all, their house was known for being loyal and trustworthy, but Skye just didn't understand them. At least with Slytherins you knew where you stood. If a Slytherin was being nice to you, they usually had an ulterior motive. They wanted something, and you somehow could help them get it. But with a Hufflepuff it was more confusing. Hufflepuffs were nice to everyone-and didn't get anything in return. And they didn't seem to want to get anything in return. They didn't seem to _want_ anything at all. They had no ambition, no creativity, no thirst for action. They seemed to be the epitome of the saying "ignorance is bliss". They were just blah; just there. Skye couldn't stand that.

"Hey, check out the new kid," whispered Melissa from the seat next to her.

Skye looked up from her notebook. The so called 'Jeffery Tifton' seemed normal enough. He had a mess of unruly brown hair and green eyes-but when her eyes dropped to his black and yellow tie, her interest waned. _Hufflepuff_. He probably was thinking right now about hugging everybody and then baking them cookies. Ugh.

"Why don't you tell us about yourself, Jeffery?" prompted Professor Mofett.

"Uh...," he began, looking a bit nervous about being put on the spot, "well, in America I went to the North American Wizarding School, Ilvermorny. It was a lot different from Hogwarts. We had a lot more students for one thing, but we also had different houses, and we played a different sport. From what I understand, it's a little bit like the wizard version of muggle rugby. I was the lead musician in the school orchestra. Um and yeah, that's about it."

"Lovely," breathed Professor Mofett with a sympathetic smile, "why don't we all give a round of applause to Jeffery."

Skye gritted her teeth as she clapped her two hands together. She hated this-this fake nicety to try to make people at home. It seemed Jeffery didn't like it either; his ears turned red and he shrank in his chair.

Professor Mofett started up talking again.

"For our first lesson, I will try to gauge your potion making skills by asking you to create a Forgetfulness Potion-a potion that I trust all of you learned last year. You will need to partner up with another student, although I warn you that...,"

" _Pssst_ ," came a voice at Skye's shoulder. She ignored it and tried to pay attention.

"...I will be putting up the instructions on the blackboard, you can take out your...,"

" _Psst!_ " hissed the voice again.

"What?" Skye snapped and turned around to find herself face to face with Pearson, a Gryffindor of her year.

"I bet you I can make it faster than you," he said smugly. Skye rolled her eyes.

"Oh, really? Funny, _I_ seem to remember you just scraping by in Potions last year and begging me to help you study for exams," she said.

"You must have a bad memory. Really should get that checked out sometime, along with your delusion. After all, I think you must have a lot of it to think you're better at Potion-making than me," he said.

"Whatever," Skye said, "just shut up and let me focus."

"Skye Penderwick!" came Professor Mofett's sharp voice.

Just. Skye's. Luck.

"Why am I seeing the _back_ of you instead of the _front_? I expect respect, and I'm disappointed that instead of giving me it you chose to talk to your friends. During this class period, _I_ will decide who your partner is. This is a warning. If I see this kind of attitude again, I will have to go further and give you detention."

And so Skye watched with her hands in fists as her friends paired up, Pearson seeming particularly pleased with himself. One after one, the viable Gryffindors disappeared, and she turned to look over at the Hufflepuff side of things. There were only a few people left, the oddballs out.

"Now I shall pick your partner," Professor Mofett said.

Skye surveyed the small group of possible collaborators. She was okay with any of them really. She was fine, as long as she didn't get paired up with-

"-Jeffery Tifton, why don't you come up here and sit next to Skye, hmm?"

Of course. She sighed. This was going to be a _long_ second year.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **I really am so excited about this chapter! Things are picking up now, and the ball is getting rolling for Skyffrey :). And if you guessed that I had Jane sort of zone out during the Sorting Hat's song because I _really_ didn't want to have to write one, congratulations on being correct!**

 **newhairdontcare: I'm glad you liked the chapter, and I hope you're okay with how Jeffery was characterized. I was surprised when I took the quiz and he ended up being Hufflepuff-I expected him to be in between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor.**

 **Again, please comment below, I love getting feedback!**

 **-ladybirden**


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